Tripod.



PATENTED JULY 19, 1904.

W. s. GEMS.

TRIPOD.

PPLIUATION FILED JULY 29, 1901.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

No. 765,175. PATBNTED JULY 19, 1904. W. S. GERTS.

TRIPOD. l

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29, 1901.

NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

. NVENTOR.

UNITED STATES Patented July 19, 1904.

PATENT- OFFICE.

TRIPOD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,175, dated July 19, 1904.

Application filed July 29, 1901.

To MZ whom, t may concern:

Beit known `that I, WALTER S. GER'rs, a citi- Zeniof the United States of America, residing at Oakpark, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain new and `useful Improvements in Tripods, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

fis a specification.

This invention has reference to tripods suoli as are used for mounting instruments, particu- `la'nly cameras, in positionl for work. The primary objects of this invention are, the provision of a tripod which will more compactlyv a construction which l have illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a viewof the tripod erected in operative position, a portion only of two of the legs being shown,

Figure 2 is a View of a detail of the mechanism employed for locking one of the leg extensions in position,

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 8,

Figure 4 is a sectional view showing a detail of the mechanism employed for retaining one of the extensions of the legs in place,

Figure 5 is another sectional view of the structure shown in Figure 4,

Figure y6 is a view of the lower most leg extension, with the locking device of Figure 4 and 5 applied thereto, l

Figure 7 is a plan view of the tripod head in operative position,

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the upper part of the tripod, with the head in section, the s7ection being taken on the line 8 8 of Figure Figure 9 is a partial section of the .plate and set screw taken on the line 9 9 of Figure 7 Figure 10 shows an end view of the head when folded for carrying,

Figure 11 is a side elevation of the tripod when folded for transportation,

Figure 12 is a view of another plate which Serial No. 70,021. (No model.)

can he used .in vthe 4Lipper par-tof lthe tripod, and

` Figure 13a side eleva-tion thereof.

Referring now :more particularly :to Figunes 7, 8, and 9, it will be seen that :fora head, aI provide three members A14, '15, and -1-6, connected together by meansof the llinkconnections 1'7, 18., and the latch 19, Ain ,themanner shown, with .a plate 2O embraced `between them, which whenitheyfane folded, is held by a hinge projection A21, `entering an opening 22, in the part 15 (see Fig. 9).

The parts 14, 15, land 16 :are .preferably formed out of stamped sheet metal, bent into shape,and fastened together as shown, and provided with lugs 23 .and 24, providing a pivotal support for a pin` 25, which secures the upper one of the leg sections `to the head.

The legs are formed iis-ordinarily, ofafnumber of sections, longitudinally vmovable, relative vto each other, `whereby the leg :maybe lengthened or shortened, ythe sections being provided, however', with novel Vmeans for locking them, shownin the several figures, particularly Figure 8 and Figures 4, .5, f6, and 2 and 3. Referring more especially to Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, it will be seen that the yupper part of the leg isformed of -two parts,.26 and 27 ,.between which isa middle section formed of the parts 28 and 29, which in-turn embrace between their lower ends, ya third section 30. Between the upper ends of the parts :28 and 29, I providea wedge lock, comprised of the pieces of stamped or bent sheet -metal .3l and 32, one of which32, is fastened to the part 28, and the other 31, interlocks with the lpiece 32, and bears against the part 29, the whole being arranged so that when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1, the bent .portion or thumb piece33 of the part 31, springs outward and engages the opening in the plate 34, locking `the part 31 to prevent its moving upward, and insuring the wedging action of the two parts relative to eachother whenever any weight or pressure is exerted downward upon the tripod leg. The parts 28 and 29 are thus forcibly pressed against the parts 26 and 27. In order to release this catch, the thumb piece or flap 33 is pressed inward, to disengage it from the plate 34, when the part 31 can be moved slightly upward, releasing the pres- IOO sure on the parts 26 and 27, and permitting the leg to be shortened.

For fastening the lower leg sections 30, there is usually employed a band 34, with a thumb screw 35 as shown in Figure 1. In lieu of these I have provided a device in the shape of a pivoted catch 36, held as shown in Figure 6, and adapted to engage a plurality of notches 37, on the leg section 30, being arranged to catch in any notch, depending upon the position at which the leg section 3() may be placed, by means of the pressure of the spring 38, or other equivalent means. In order to release this catch to change the amount of extension of the part 30, it is only necessary to push inward against the spring 38, or against some part which will draw the catch 36 out of the notches 37, when the leg section 30 can be set at any desiredposition.

In order to fold my tripod, the legs are first made as short as possible, by bringing the eX- tensible sections together into the position shown in Figure 8, after which the latch 19 is unfastened, and the part 14 is swung around in a direction shown by the arrow 39, until it comes in contact with the part 15. The plate 9 is then swung downward around the hinge 21, and the part 16 swung around in the direction shown by the arrow 16, in contact with thel part 15, bringing the parts 14, 15, and ,16 to the position shown in Figure 10, in which the plate will hang as shown in Figure 11, with the thumb screw-as shown in dotted lines on said ligure, and the legs will occupy the position in Figure 11, there being' no projecting parts at any side thereof.

If desired, a loose plate like thatvinarked 20, shown in Figures 12 and 13, can be used, in place of` the hinged plate 2O shown in the other figures; in which case it would be simply clamped and held between the members 14, 15, and 16, substantially the same as is the hinged plate when in operative position.

Having thus described myl invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A tripod head comprising a central plate, a circumferential set of link members pivoted together in series and embracing the plate to rigidly support the same, substantially as described.

2. A locking device for a tripod leg, comprising a wedge secured to one member of the leg, means secured to an adjacent member, constructed to slide upon said wedge, to push or press the two relatively movable leg members together, and means whereby to hold the same in iiXed position, substantially as described.

3. A tripod comprising a set of extensible legs and a head supported thereon consisting of a horizontally circumferential set of links hinged together to open outwardly, and a catch for locking said links together to form a rigid frame, each link forming a side of said frame.

4. A tripod comprising three legs and a head supported thereon comprising a central plate, three bars linked together and embracing said plate, and means for locking all parts rigidly in place, substantially as described.

5. A collapsible tripod head comprising a circumferential set of jointed members, a central plate hinged at its edge to one of said members and adapted to be embraced and supported by all of said members when in operative position.

6. In a tripod, an instrument base, a series of legs, and a like number of leg holdersone for each leg, vsaid leg holders being hinged together and one of said leg holders being hinged to said instrument base by a hinge parallel to said base, and locking mechanism for locking the leg holders 'and instrument base together.

7. Ina folding tripod, three holders for the legs pivoted together' so as to be folded from a triangular position to a parallel position and vice versa, a top plate hinged to the holder of one pair of legs by a hinge connection, and a locking device by which the three holders can be locked in their triangular position to the under side of the top plate,

8. In a tripod, an instrument base, and a series of leg holders, connected to said base and adapted to move substantially in the same plane and to fold into a parallel positionand into an angular position with reference to each other.

9. In a tripod, an instrument base and a series of leg holders connected to said base, and adapted to move substantially in the same plane and to fold into a parallel position and into an angular position with reference to each other, and locking mechanism for locking the leg holders and the instrument base together.

10. In a tripod, a series of leg holders, one for each leg, and pivoted to 'each other and susceptible of being folded into a parallel position and into an angular position with reference to each other, an instrument base pivoted to one of the leg holders, and locking mechanism for locking the leg holders and base together.

VALTER S. GERTS. In presence of PAUL CARPENTER, H. W. SMALLEY.

IOO

IIO 

